Copyright and graphic design, something which should not surprise

October 27th, 2015Featured, News0 comments

Regarding a design, or any kind of work, Evolutiza Lawyers & Tax Advisors can help you to solve any question about copyright, we are at your service. Graphic design has progressed very quickly in recent years, undoubtedly thanks to computing. Nowadays a large amount of images, logos, models… are created, but the ease to access to them usually causes hesitation about rights which protect their authors.

The Spanish Consolidated Version of Copyright Law determines which works are subject to intellectual property in its article 10, not distinguishing any author. So, “visual authors” have the same rights as any other, and what’s more, we are not only talking about artistic works, but any type of work, although having a commercial use, as an enterprise logo could be.

Copyright belongs to the work author in any case. It is not an obstacle to license someone to use these rights during a certain period of time, but we can not forget that the authors ceded the use, not the property. In addition, these rights do not depend on the reason of their creation, they could be done because of an order or freely.

For these reasons, agreements between graphic creators and their customers, as well as its clauses, have a huge importance in this sphere, to determine the license’s features. For example, it is really important to set the duration of the agreement, because if it is not stipulated, it will be for 5 years.

Finally, we have to highlight that authors’ rights are not eternal. They expire in 80 years time since the author’s death. It is not strange. These rights want to protect people who are able to create new artistic or commercial concepts, but this protection should not be longer because everyone has the right to enjoy all kind of cultural, artistic or commercial works. So, the intention is not to lessen this right but protecting the author.